A Brief History of The Worm

by Nicholas Weaver

Self-replicating malware has been an issue in computer security for many years, dating back at least to Ken Thompson's self replicating code. But in the past few years, with the widespread adoption of the Internet, worms and viruses have become serious pests: spreading around the world in a matter of hours with the capacity to carry highly damaging payloads. Such malware is growing more sophisticated, as the authors of new worms learn from the successes and mistakes of the past. This article will take a brief look at the evolution of worms and other malware, in an attempt to better understand how we got to where we are today.